Uniquely Prepared to Weather Tough Times
Weighing In
By Capt. Joseph Genovese, ALPA Vice President–Finance/Treasurer
Unique is one way to describe the situation we’re all going through. Not since 1918 have we seen a worldwide pandemic such as this one. And since the airline industry was in a much different place and ALPA wasn’t in existence yet, there aren’t specific lessons learned to help guide us.
However, our industry has been through our share of challenging times, and we’re fortunate to benefit from our ALPA predecessors. In this way, we’re uniquely suited to weather the tough times we’re currently experiencing. We continue the proven practice of being thoughtful and judicious during the good times and meticulous and careful during the bad times.
For years now, ALPA leaders have emphasized conservative budgeting—and have followed through. We knew that there would be tough times at some point, so we acted responsibly. We built up our reserves and recapitalized our war chest, all while spending responsibly to make needed infrastructure updates.
This action has provided us with welcome assistance as we make our way through the financial issues this crisis brings. Thanks to a variety of measures taken by our governments, our airlines, and our master executive councils, our 2020 budget has remained relatively strong. And looking forward, we’ve been very flexible in producing next year’s budget, constantly adjusting and making sure we’re working with the most up-to-date numbers. Things continue to change every day, and we remain committed to this approach even as we go into the new year.
But as the reality of voluntary leave programs and furloughs looms across our profession and ultimately decreases our revenue, we needed to significantly cut expenses as we move into 2021. ALPA has gathered the most current information from our pilot groups in order to build a budget that reflects how COVID-19 has affected the aviation industry and our members. And our long-standing fiscal philosophy has prepared us so that we could respond.
Even as we continued working together to create the 2021 budget, we kept flexibility in mind. Further government aid is still a possibility, for example, and no one knows with certainty when this pandemic will end and when the traveling public will be ready to return to the skies. So rather than considering our budget cuts as lost opportunities, I prefer to see them as a ready-made priority checklist for when things turn around and the good days are here again.
Next to safety, the Association’s number one priority has always been to serve our members and to continue providing essential resources to them. Hopefully you’ve seen the many communications ALPA has produced this year regarding the new and targeted resources we’ve made available to help our members through this pandemic—even as we started to feel a financial crunch.
I want to encourage every ALPA pilot—particularly those of you who’ve been directly impacted by the pandemic and opted to take voluntary leave, decided to retire early, or who’ve been involuntarily furloughed—to access the resources that were developed to help ease the sting of this untimely transition. From budgets to benefits, career advice to job searches, and unemployment resources to education assistance, our hardworking ALPA volunteers and professional staff are committed to helping you navigate the curves ahead.
As pilots, we train for that unexpected failure so that when it happens, we react and see it to a successful conclusion. ALPA’s financial team is no different. During the good times, we not only expanded but also streamlined and stood ready for the unexpected.
We’re conservative but flexible. We’re forward thinking yet focused on the here and now. ALPA is and will remain strong because of each and every one of our more than 59,000 pilots. We’re forging a new path to restore our industry not just for ourselves, but for those who will follow. Nearly 90 years after the inception of our union, we remain the pioneers of our profession, combating every new challenge and circumstance that come our way—and demonstrating our resiliency every step of the way.
Editor’s note: View Capt. Genovese's remarks from ALPA's recent Board of Directors meeting.
